Days Gone By

Hey there, long time, no blog. Remember when you were a kid and you would get all excited about the first day of school. You had that giddy feeling of anew, new notebooks, new pens, new clothes, new backpacks, everything was new and it made you excited for the school year ahead of you. Usually the newness wore off after a couple of weeks and you were back into the homework rut but I say all of this to try and describe my feelings towards this blog. I haven’t been the most regular at posting and I would like change that so I treated myself to a blog makeover. I’m hoping the newness of it all will help inspire me to update this space more often. In case you’re wondering I have the lovely Missa of MoonArts Web Design to thank. I think they did a wonderful job and I’m so excited about my “new beginning”. And I gotsa button for you guys to steal (yay).

You’re probably wondering what I’ve been up to in these past weeks, well I can tell you that it aint sock knitting believe it or not. I know that the Summer of Socks ends today but I just wasn’t feeling in a sock mood this summer. I think I have an a-long commitment anxiety or something because once the a-long gets started I’m fine but I slowly start to loose steam until I’m just not that into it anymore. I think if I hadn’t joined summer of socks I probably would have knitted more that my lonely 3 pairs. Now I seem to be into bigger projects.

This is a Bog Jacket that I started for my son. The pattern is by Elizabeth Zimmerman and it can be found in her Knitting Around book but I’m sure all you Knittanistas already knew that. I totally plan on doing all the bells and whistles like shoulder shaping, phoney seams, and all that jazz but I’m afraid that it may be too small for my little man. I’m choosing to ignore this minor oversight until all the knitting is done. In case you’re wondering, I’m quite fine living with my knitters denial, it helps me cope. I’m trying to use up my acrylic so I just dug in the stash and saw that I had 4 skeins of Caron Natura in chocolate brown that I could use. I’m not sure what colors I’m using for the top but I know I want off white and maybe orange or tan. We’ll see how it turns out.

I know I have this tendency to write a lot when I’ve been gone a while so I’ll try not to bore you guys too much.

I’ve actually been crocheting also. Remember the charity group that I knit with at my job? Well I had this great idea that if everyone in the group donated a couple of granny squares, then we would have enough for a blanket to donate to Warm Up America. Well I got 54 squares but guess who has the great job of crocheting them all together? That’s right, the same person with the bright idea. So far I’ve done about half the blanket and it’s a pretty daunting task. Only because the gauges are as varied as the people who made them so they’re not all the same size. Plus they were not all made with the same pattern so it can be difficult to get them to match up correctly. I’m pushing through it and hopefully I’ll have it done by next week. I’m planning on giving pictures of the blanket to all that participated as a sort of thank you card.

In spinning news, here’s the finished yarn from my last post

Crown Mountain Farms Superwash Merino Roving

Happy Together Colorway

Approx 4.5 Ounces, 414 yards, 18wpi

Method: Short Forward Draw, 2ply

I love this yarn and I’m waiting until I find the perfect pattern to cast on for a pair of socks of course.

I also spun up half of the fiber I received in my last spinning swap. A while ago I started a swap on swap-bot for hand dyed roving dyed to resemble a flower. My partner Jennifer sent me the most gawjus merino/silk blend roving inspired by pink gerbera daisies. I think she got the colors spot on and I split the roving in half and spun one half up. I loved the colors so I decided to Navajo ply it and it turned out around a lace weight. I think this yarn wants to be an airy lace scarf of some sort so I’m on the hunt for any patterns. I’ll post this one properly with stats and all once I’m done spinning it.

In other knitting news, I’m still plugging away on my first sweater that I’ve been working on since January. I’m trying to have it ready for Rhinebeck but I’m not keeping my fingers crossed. I’m not stressing it because I know I’ll have a good time regardless of how I’m dressed. Just to recap, I’ve finished the back and one sleeve and I am currently working on the left front. The pattern stated that you should knit the cable band that goes around the fronts of the sweater separately but somehow I don’t picture my self knitting a 40”+ cable strip then sewing it to the sides.

I think that’s all for now. Hopefully I’ll catch some of you NY spinners at the Spin-Out next Saturday. I’ll be the one with the Louet Victoria and the Afro so don’t forget to say “Hi”.

Happy Crafting

p.s. Is it just me or did anyone else absolutely fall head over heels in love with Tim Gunns new show on Bravo? I’m ready to throw all the clothes in my closet out and shop for new ones. Undergarments includedJ